Fact-checked by Grok 2 weeks ago

Cooper Creek

Cooper Creek is an extensive ephemeral river system traversing the arid interior of Queensland and South Australia, formed by the confluence of the Barcoo and Thomson rivers approximately 150 kilometres northwest of Windorah, Queensland.^[1] Extending roughly 1,300 kilometres southwestward, it constitutes one of Australia's primary inland waterways, channeling sporadic floodwaters into the vast Lake Eyre Basin while rarely delivering sustained flow to Lake Eyre itself due to high evaporation and infiltration losses in the desert environment.^[2]^[3] The creek's hydrology exemplifies dryland river dynamics, with discharge volumes fluctuating dramatically— from near-zero in dry years to massive floods during La Niña-influenced monsoons originating hundreds of kilometres northeast—fostering pulsed ecological booms in biodiversity amid otherwise barren channels and waterholes.^[4]^[5] Its anastomosing channel pattern, characterized by multiple low-gradient braids and persistent waterholes scoured into underlying sand sheets, sustains refugia for aquatic species and supports pastoral industries during wet phases, though prolonged droughts underscore its unreliability for human settlement or navigation.^[6] Cooper Creek holds enduring historical significance as the endpoint of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition of 1860–1861, Australia's costliest overland exploration effort, where leader Robert O'Hara Burke established a supply depot at a marked dig tree near modern Innamincka before pressing onward to the Gulf of Carpentaria.^[7] On their return, Burke, William Wills, and companions, depleted by dysentery, starvation, and desert hardships, failed by mere hours to rendezvous with a relief party at the creek, leading to the deaths of Burke and Wills in June 1861; survivor John King was rescued by Yandruwandha Aboriginal people who provided sustenance from the river's resources.^[7]^[8] This tragedy highlighted the perils of the continent's interior aridity and the creek's deceptive intermittency, while memorials at Burke's gravesite along its banks commemorate the event's role in mapping Australia's uncharted expanses.^[9]

Physical Geography

Course and Dimensions

Cooper Creek forms at the confluence of the Thomson and Barcoo Rivers, situated approximately 44 km downstream from Jundah and north of Windorah in central Queensland.^[10] The headwaters of these tributaries originate in the uplands of the northeastern Lake Eyre Basin, near the western slopes influenced by the Great Dividing Range.^[10] From this junction, the creek extends southwest through the Channel Country's arid landscapes, crossing into South Australia and passing features like the Innamincka Dome before reaching the northeastern corner of Lake Eyre.^[10]^[11] The total length measures about 1,500 km, marking it as a major intermittent river in Australia's interior.^[5] Its path features an anabranching system of 1-4 primary braided channels across wide floodplains spanning 8 to 60 km in valley width, with 44% of the Cooper Plain composed of such braided floodplain structures.^[10]^[11] Topographically, it descends from roughly 230 m elevation at its upper reaches to below sea level at Lake Eyre, within the endorheic Lake Eyre Basin that lacks any outlet to the ocean, yielding an overall low gradient of approximately 0.023%.^[5]^[10]

Geological Formation and Basin

Cooper Creek lies within the Lake Eyre Basin, an endorheic drainage system spanning approximately 1.2 million km², isolated from coastal outlets and shaped by intraplate tectonism and subsidence since the late Paleocene.^[12]^[13] Tectonic subsidence in northeastern South Australia initiated the basin's formation, creating a large, shallow depression overlain by Cenozoic sediments, with the creek's channel developing amid Quaternary fluvial and aeolian dynamics.^[12] The subsurface features the Permian-Triassic Cooper Basin, a terrestrial sequence of fluvio-glacial to fluvio-lacustrine sediments up to several kilometers thick, deposited during four major cycles influenced by structural deformation.^[14]^[15] Seismic surveys and drilling data reveal fault blocks, folds, and stratigraphic traps within these sediments, arising from Late Carboniferous to Triassic rifting and inversion events.^[14]^[16] Surface landforms along Cooper Creek result from aeolian redistribution of fluvial sands into ancient dune fields and deposition of fine clays forming claypans and gilgais on vertisols, with red sands dominating due to iron oxide staining from prolonged exposure.^[17]^[18] Interplay of wind and episodic river flows over the past 100,000 years has built source-bordering dunes adjacent to paleochannels, underscoring the basin's arid evolution.^[17]^[19]

Hydrology

Flow Characteristics

Cooper Creek displays a predominantly ephemeral flow regime, with surface water present only intermittently following irregular rainfall events in its headwaters. Flows are primarily driven by monsoonal summer rains in the Queensland portion of the catchment, where mean annual rainfall ranges from 400 to 500 mm, resulting in pulse-like discharges that propagate downstream through the arid channel system.^[20] Periods of zero flow are typical, often extending from several months to up to 21 months, reflecting the arid zone's low and erratic precipitation patterns. Mean annual discharge, measured at gauging stations such as Currareva near Windorah, averages approximately 3.05 km³ (equivalent to 97 m³/s), but this volume decreases substantially downstream due to transmission losses exceeding 50% in some reaches, primarily through evaporation and infiltration into alluvial aquifers.^[21] These losses dominate the water balance, with evaporation accounting for a major fraction in the hot, dry climate, where potential evapotranspiration far outpaces inputs, rendering the creek unsuitable for perennial navigation or consistent extraction. The discharge is highly skewed, with the majority of annual volume concentrated in rare, high-magnitude pulses rather than steady flow, exemplifying a boom-bust hydrological cycle characteristic of Australian dryland rivers.^[22] Flow variability is extreme, positioning Cooper Creek among the world's most unpredictable arid-zone systems, as evidenced by gauging data from sites like Windorah and Innamincka showing inter-annual coefficients of variation approaching or exceeding 90-200% for discharge metrics.^[23] ^[20] This unpredictability arises from the large catchment area (approximately 290,000 km²) and dependence on distant rainfall triggers, with low-frequency floods delivering disproportionate volumes while dry phases dominate the record. Such metrics highlight the creek's unreliability for sustained human or infrastructural dependence, as annual flows can vary by orders of magnitude between near-zero and exceptional events.^[24]

Flooding Patterns and Drought Cycles

Cooper Creek exhibits episodic flooding characterized by slow-moving pulses of water that traverse over 1,000 km from headwaters near the Great Dividing Range to terminal wetlands such as Coongie Lakes, with flows decaying due to infiltration and evaporation in the arid landscape. The 1974 flood, the largest in instrumental records for the region, inundated the creek with approximately 25,000 gigalitres of water, of which about 40% reached Lake Eyre, highlighting the inefficiency of downstream delivery in this terminal system.^[4] Similarly, the 2011 flood, driven by prolonged heavy rainfall in the 2010-2011 wet season, produced widespread channel activation and overflow into adjacent floodplains, though volumes were lower than in 1974.^[25] Other notable events, including those in 1990 and 2000, followed comparable patterns of upstream rainfall concentration leading to delayed, attenuating inundation of distal wetlands.^[26] Contrasting these floods are extended drought phases, such as the Millennium Drought from the late 1990s to 2009, during which Cooper Creek channels remained largely dry, with cease-to-flow conditions persisting across much of the system and minimal surface water persisting in isolated waterholes.^[27] Instrumental records from gauges along the creek and tributaries confirm that such dry periods reduce connectivity to near zero, emphasizing the river's intermittent nature over annual cycles.^[28] Long-term patterns, inferred from paleohydrological proxies including alluvial stratigraphy and sediment cores from the lower 500 km of Cooper Creek, reveal multi-decadal variability predating modern observations, with evidence of alternating high-flow and low-flow regimes driven by regional aridity fluctuations rather than unprecedented extremes.^[29] These records indicate that instrumental data (post-1880s) capture only a subset of natural variability, underestimating the range of historical drought and flood persistence.^[30] Flood peaks correlate strongly with La Niña phases of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), which enhance monsoon rainfall and cyclone activity over northern Australia, delivering pulsed inflows to the Lake Eyre Basin, while El Niño phases suppress precipitation and exacerbate droughts through persistent high-pressure systems.^[31] This teleconnection underscores natural climatic forcing as the primary driver of the creek's boom-bust hydrology, with no empirical linkage in records to anthropogenic modulation overriding these cycles.^[32]

Ecology and Biodiversity

Ecosystem Dynamics

The ecosystem of Cooper Creek operates as a pulse-driven system, where episodic flood events from distant rainfall in its headwaters trigger rapid biological responses amid the prevailing aridity. These floods create expansive temporary habitats that support algal blooms, surges in invertebrate populations with short life cycles enabling quick colonization, and upstream migrations or spawning of fish species adapted to such variability, leading to heightened productivity during "boom" phases that can last weeks to months.^[33]^[20]^[34] However, as flows cease, high evaporation rates cause habitat contraction, resulting in population crashes or "busts" where most biota perish, with zero-flow periods dominating the record—such as over 70% of days from 1885 to 1995 showing no discharge at key gauges.^[35]^[33] Permanent waterholes serve as critical refugia, sustaining remnant populations through inter-pulse dry intervals by providing isolated aquatic habitats resistant to full desiccation. Morphological features like depth and shading in these waterholes minimize evaporative losses—estimated at 1-2 meters annually in monitored sites—and mitigate predation or stranding, allowing survivors to recolonize flooded areas during subsequent pulses. Empirical monitoring shows these refugia persist for years between major floods, with water quality deteriorating via salinity accumulation but preserving biodiversity hotspots essential for system recovery.^[38] The creek's anastomosing and braided channel network, interspersed with billabongs (cutoff floodplain pools), generates spatial heterogeneity that buffers ecological variability by distributing flow energy and sediment deposition unevenly. Post-flood, these features enable staged succession: initial colonization in shallow, oxygenated billabongs gives way to salinity-driven shifts as evaporation concentrates ions in stagnant pools, favoring tolerant microbial and algal communities before terrestrial encroachment during prolonged dry spells.^[18]^[39] Soil salinity gradients, amplified by clay-rich floodplain evaporation, further structure these patterns, with observational data indicating braided reaches expand to widths exceeding 20 km during pulses, enhancing habitat patchiness without eroding overall system stability.^[40] This structure underscores the resilience of Cooper Creek's ecology to extreme flow intermittency, akin to other unregulated dryland rivers where variability fosters adaptive traits rather than dependence on steady conditions, as evidenced by sustained productivity despite infrequent large floods (e.g., major events in 1974 and 1990 sustaining booms for over a year).^[41]^[20] Such dynamics, observed via long-term gauging and remote sensing, highlight causal links between hydrological pulses and biotic persistence, prioritizing empirical flow-biota correlations over assumptions of inherent fragility.^[42]

Flora, Fauna, and Conservation Sites

The flora along Cooper Creek features drought-resistant riparian communities dominated by coolibah trees (Eucalyptus coolabah), which form open woodlands on floodplain edges and watercourses, providing shade and habitat in the arid landscape.^[43] Lignum shrubs (Duma florulenta, formerly Muehlenbeckia florulenta) create dense thickets in low-lying depressions, trapping floodwaters and supporting post-inundation regeneration, while ephemeral grasses and herbs, such as those from the Poaceae family, rapidly colonize saturated soils during rare flood events, fueling brief productivity pulses before desiccation.^[44] ^[5] Fauna assemblages reflect the creek's boom-bust hydrology, with fish communities in persistent waterholes including Murray cod (Maccullochella peelii) and golden perch (Macquaria ambigua), whose populations expand via flood-triggered spawning but contract sharply in droughts.^[45] Waterbirds, such as Australian pelicans (Pelecanus conspicillatus), congregate in vast breeding colonies during inundations, exploiting ephemeral prey abundances before dispersing amid dry phases; over 200 species have been recorded in terminal wetlands, underscoring the system's role as an arid biodiversity hotspot.^[33] Mammalian fauna includes small dasyurids like the grey-bellied dunnart (Sminthopsis murina) in riparian zones, adapted to sporadic resources.^[46] Key conservation sites encompass the Coongie Lakes Ramsar wetland, designated in 1987 for its concentration of arid-zone biodiversity, including 18 migratory bird species under international agreements and 13 native fish taxa that thrive in flood-refuge dynamics.^[47] Innamincka Regional Reserve protects over 1.3 million hectares of Cooper Creek wetlands and floodplains, preserving natural variability without intensive intervention.^[48] Strzelecki Regional Reserve safeguards waterholes and ephemeral channels in the adjacent desert, maintaining ecological processes amid inherent aridity.^[49] Invasive species pose challenges, with European carp (Cyprinus carpio) exploiting floodplains for spawning, leading to biomass dominance that reduces native fish via resource competition and increased turbidity during booms, though subsequent droughts naturally cull populations without persistent establishment.^[50] Feral herbivores, including camels, irrupt post-flood due to vegetation surges, grazing lignum and coolibah regrowth, but causal realism attributes such cycles primarily to hydrological drivers rather than isolated human facilitation, as native species exhibit parallel responses in this unregulated system.^[34]^[51]

Human History

Indigenous Occupation and Knowledge

Archaeological investigations in the Lake Eyre Basin, which includes the Cooper Creek catchment, indicate Aboriginal occupation extending back approximately 40,000 years, with stratified deposits and artifact scatters evidencing sustained human presence amid fluctuating climatic conditions.^[52] The primary traditional custodians along Cooper Creek were the Wangkangurru and Yarluyandi peoples, whose territories overlapped the creek's lower reaches and adjacent channels, supplemented by neighboring groups like the Diyari to the south.^[53] Systematic surveys of the lower Cooper Creek have documented dense concentrations of prehistoric sites, including hearths, stone tools, and trade artifacts, reflecting adaptive responses to the region's episodic water availability rather than permanent sedentism.^[54] These groups practiced empirical land management techniques, such as controlled burning akin to broader Australian Aboriginal fire-stick methods, to clear undergrowth around waterholes and stimulate grass regrowth for attracting game during post-flood periods, though direct evidence in the arid Cooper Creek corridor remains tied to inferred regional patterns rather than site-specific charcoal dating.^[55] Ethnographic accounts from early records highlight subsistence strategies synchronized with flood cycles: large, semi-permanent waterholes along the creek supported fish trapping via finely woven plant-fiber nets and spears, yielding staples like perch and catfish when inundations receded and stranded populations.^[56] Hunting focused on kangaroos and smaller marsupials drawn to ephemeral grasslands, while plant gathering targeted seeds, tubers, and fruits from flood-dependent species, demanding seasonal mobility across territories to track resource pulses. Competition for these variable resources drove inter-group tensions and dispersal patterns, with populations contracting to core water sources during droughts and expanding along floodplains in wetter phases, underscoring causal dependencies on unpredictable hydrology over any idealized equilibrium.^[57] Oral histories preserved among descendants emphasize predictive knowledge of flood timings derived from astronomical and ecological indicators, enabling preemptive migrations rather than fixed stewardship, as verified through cross-referencing with paleoenvironmental proxies like dune activation and alluvial stratigraphy.^[58] This knowledge system prioritized survival amid aridity's constraints, with no archaeological indications of large-scale landscape engineering beyond opportunistic exploitation.

European Exploration and Early Settlement

Captain Charles Sturt encountered Cooper Creek during his 1844–1846 expedition into central Australia, crossing the watercourse on 13 October 1845 at a site approximately 24 kilometers west of modern Innamincka and naming it after Charles Cooper, then Chief Justice of South Australia.^[59] Seeking evidence of a vast inland sea, Sturt's party traced sections of the creek, documenting its braided, intermittent channels and seasonal waterholes rather than a reliable perennial flow, which underscored the logistical barriers to inland penetration.^[60] This assessment contrasted with prevailing imperial hopes for navigable rivers facilitating swift expansion, instead highlighting the creek's dependence on irregular monsoonal rains.^[60] Subsequent mapping in the 1860s by explorers including William Warburton further delineated the creek's path north of Lake Eyre, confirming its aridity and reinforcing pragmatic limits on settlement viability amid deceptive floodplains that masked prolonged dry spells.^[61] These efforts informed colonial authorities of the terrain's challenges, prioritizing water-dependent stock routes over unattainable permanent colonization models.^[62] Pastoral incursions accelerated in the 1860s–1880s as overlanders drove cattle herds northward from established districts, establishing outstations along the creek despite high attrition from thirst and desiccation.^[63] Ventures like the stocking of Innamincka in the early 1870s, where drovers delivered over 1,600 head, exemplified the push, yet recurrent droughts decimated herds and strained operations at sites including Durham Downs, compelling adaptive practices such as waterhole management over expansive grazing illusions.^[64] This era's realism—prioritizing resilient water sources amid the creek's variability—curbed unchecked optimism, yielding sparse but enduring footholds in an unforgiving landscape.^[59]

Burke and Wills Expedition

The Victorian Exploring Expedition, under Robert O'Hara Burke's leadership, arrived in the Innamincka region along Cooper Creek on 11 November 1860 after departing Melbourne on 20 August 1860. There, the party established Camp LXV as a forward depot, stocked with provisions for potential return or relief. On 16 December 1860, Burke, William John Wills, John King, and Charles Gray separated from the main group, advancing northward with six camels and limited supplies toward the Gulf of Carpentaria, while William Brahe remained in charge of the depot party, instructed to wait up to three months.^[7]^[8] The advance group reached the gulf in February 1861 but faced grueling return conditions, including water scarcity and exhausted camels, arriving back at Camp LXV on 21 April 1861—mere hours after Brahe had abandoned the site due to dwindling supplies and water concerns, taking most caches with him. Gray had already perished from exhaustion and malnutrition around 17 April 1861 during the final approach. With scant remaining food—primarily flour and dried meat—the survivors relocated camp downstream along Cooper Creek, but inadequate rations and failure to effectively forage or link with local Indigenous groups accelerated their decline.^[7]^[65] Burke died around 28 June 1861, followed by Wills on or about 1 July 1861, their deaths attributed to a combination of starvation, scurvy, and thiaminase-induced beriberi from over-reliance on nardoo spores as a staple food source, which depleted thiamine despite providing minimal calories. King endured by securing aid from Yandruwandha people along the creek, who provided fish and guidance. Alfred Howitt's relief expedition recovered Burke and Wills' bodies in September 1861 near the creek and rescued King, who had cached remains for retrieval.^[66]^[67]^[65] Post-expedition inquiries revealed causal failures in execution, such as launching the push during the onset of the wet season, which flooded northern routes and delayed relief parties through heat and illness; overoptimistic supply calculations ignoring arid unpredictability; and disregard for Indigenous survival strategies in the channel country, leading to inefficient resource use. These errors, rather than mere misfortune, underscored the perils of underestimating seasonal barriers and logistical chains in Australia's interior, as confirmed by survivor accounts and later geographical assessments.^[7]^[68]

Economic Utilization

Pastoralism and Land Management

Pastoralism dominates land use in the Cooper Creek catchment, where vast cattle stations span millions of hectares of arid and semi-arid rangelands, relying on episodic flooding from the creek's channels to sustain native pastures. The majority of the catchment is dedicated to extensive grazing, primarily for beef cattle, with some sheep in drier zones, supporting low to moderate stocking densities adapted to the region's high variability in rainfall and forage availability.^[69] ^[70] Management practices emphasize flexibility to counter environmental unpredictability, including rotational grazing systems that divide paddocks to allow pasture recovery periods of 8-12 weeks or more after heavy use, reducing overgrazing risks and promoting even utilization of flood-dependent grasses. In the adjacent Channel Country, which encompasses much of the Queensland portion of the Cooper system, graziers adjust stocking rates based on post-flood pasture growth, often destocking herds during prolonged droughts to preserve breeding stock and avoid total losses, as demonstrated in northern Queensland operations where strategic sales maintained viability through dry cycles. Fire management, incorporating controlled burns to mimic pre-European Indigenous practices that enhanced grass regrowth and biodiversity for grazing, has been shown in empirical rangeland studies to bolster long-term pasture resilience by controlling woody encroachment and stimulating productive understory species.^[71] ^[72] ^[73] These approaches contribute to beef production for domestic and export markets, with southwest Queensland's cattle herds—encompassing Channel Country stations—numbering over 500,000 head in regional aggregates as of mid-2010s surveys, generating economic value through live exports and processed meat amid Australia's overall herd exceeding 30 million by 2024. Benefits include rural employment in remote areas and revenue from sustainable herd turnover, though challenges arise in the higher-rainfall headwaters where elevated stocking rates during wet phases have led to localized soil erosion, as indicated by historical data on degradation risks under conservative carrying capacity guidelines of 0.2-0.5 adult equivalents per hectare in variable zones.^[74] ^[75] ^[76]

Mineral and Energy Resource Extraction

The Cooper Basin, encompassing subsurface formations beneath the Cooper Creek region across Queensland and South Australia, represents a major hydrocarbon province with natural gas and crude oil extraction dating to the 1960s. The Moomba gas field, discovered in 1963, initiated commercial production in 1969, marking the first delivery of basin gas via the 750 km Moomba-Adelaide pipeline to supply South Australian markets.^[77]^[78] Since inception, the basin has yielded over 5 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas and 4 billion barrels of oil equivalent, primarily from conventional reservoirs in Permian and Triassic sandstones like the Patchawarra and Toolachee formations.^[79] Hydraulic fracturing has enabled development of unconventional tight gas and shale resources, particularly in Permian-age strata such as the Roseneath-Epsilon-Murteree (REM) sequence, with intensified drilling and production expansions in the 2020s by operators including Santos and Beach Energy.^[80] These activities sustain gas flows to eastern Australian states via interconnected pipelines, supporting domestic energy needs amid declining output from legacy fields elsewhere; the basin's output, though maturing, continues to underpin regional supply security.^[81] Extraction infrastructure features centralized processing at Moomba, minimizing surface disturbance across the arid landscape with clustered well pads and linear pipelines occupying a low land footprint relative to output. Economically, operations generate remote employment—approximately 833 direct jobs in South Australia's oil and gas sector, dominated by Cooper Basin activities—and bolster GDP through royalties, taxes, and energy exports, with industry-wide gas contributions estimated to avert broader economic shocks from supply shortfalls.^[82]^[83] Environmental assessments address water consumption for fracking, which relies heavily on recycled produced water and brackish sources, yielding an overall industry surplus rather than deficit; volumes pale against the basin's natural flood cycles, where Cooper Creek inflows can exceed billions of cubic meters episodically.^[84] Long-term groundwater monitoring by operators and regulators, including baseline and operational data from the Great Artesian Basin overlay, reveals no verifiable aquifer depletion or connectivity to extraction zones, countering unsubstantiated claims of hydraulic impacts through empirical pressure and chemistry tracking.^[80]^[85]^[86]

Tourism and Recreation

Tourism along Cooper Creek focuses on historical exploration sites and intermittent wetlands, drawing self-sufficient adventurers to the remote outback of South Australia and Queensland. Primary attractions include waterholes such as Cullyamurra and Minkie, where visitors engage in camping, fishing, canoeing, and boating amid river red gums and coolibah trees during flow events.^[48] ^[87] The Innamincka Regional Reserve, spanning over 1.3 million hectares, provides access to these features via a network of vehicle tracks, with the heritage-listed Innamincka Visitor Centre offering exhibits on natural history and Traditional Owner knowledge.^[48] ^[88] The Burke and Wills expedition underpins much of the historical appeal, with accessible sites including Burke's grave on Cooper Creek banks, memorials, and the Dig Tree in nearby Queensland, trace-able by 4WD along expedition routes. Coongie Lakes, an interconnected wetland system, support birdwatching and camping when filled by upstream flows, attracting eco-tourism operators for guided tours in this arid zone.^[48] ^[89] Visitor activity remains niche, with low thousands annually limited by the area's isolation and variable conditions, contributing modestly to local economies through park fees and limited accommodations like the Innamincka Hotel.^[48] Access depends on seasonal road viability, with tracks often impassable after rainfall due to flooding or soft terrain, requiring high-clearance 4WD vehicles, recovery equipment, and pre-checking via the Desert Parks Bulletin for closures.^[48] ^[90] Entry fees apply ($13.90 per vehicle daily), and camping permits ($22.30 per night) must be pre-booked, emphasizing planned visits over spontaneous travel.^[48] Remoteness poses significant risks including vehicle breakdowns, extreme heat exceeding 40°C, flash flooding, and limited emergency services, with guidelines mandating self-reliance through carrying spare parts, ample water and fuel, satellite communications, and personal locator beacons.^[48] ^[90] Authorities stress consulting rangers and weather forecasts to mitigate isolation hazards, prioritizing preparation over regulated infrastructure in this unmanaged arid landscape.^[88]

Environmental Management and Challenges

Natural Variability Impacts

Cooper Creek's hydrology is defined by extreme natural variability, featuring infrequent but intense floods driven by distant monsoonal rainfall, alternating with extended dry spells that can last years. This pattern results in highly unpredictable flows, with annual discharge coefficients of variation exceeding 200%, far surpassing those of temperate rivers.^[22] ^[69] Paleohydrological evidence from alluvial deposits reveals that such flow regime shifts, including wetter phases during the early Holocene and drier conditions in the late Pleistocene, occurred well before human presence, establishing variability as an intrinsic feature rather than a recent anomaly.^[30] Flood pulses trigger geomorphic reconfiguration through erosion and sedimentation, mobilizing fine-grained silts and clays across the low-gradient floodplain to form anastomosing channels and expansive wetlands. Peak flood discharges, reaching up to 10,000 cubic meters per second in events like 1974, scour banks and redistribute sediments, altering channel avulsions and deposition patterns over decadal scales.^[91] ^[92] In prolonged dry intervals, evaporative losses concentrate soil salts, exacerbating salinization in clay-rich substrates and constraining post-flood vegetation recovery by elevating electrical conductivity levels beyond thresholds for salt-tolerant species.^[93] Ecological communities endure boom-bust dynamics tied to these flows, with floods spurring explosive algal, invertebrate, fish, and waterbird proliferations—such as golden perch spawning migrations and pelican breeding colonies numbering in the thousands—followed by sharp declines amid desiccation. Vegetation, including lignum shrublands, pulses green post-inundation but senesces rapidly, imposing selective pressures that favor resilient, opportunistic taxa.^[33] ^[94] Long-term records, including fish abundance surveys from 1990–2000, demonstrate these cycles' dependence on unregulated inundation timing and magnitude, with pre-European analogs inferred from sedimentary proxies indicating recurrent wet-dry oscillations over millennia.^[95] This historical precedence underscores that while variability challenges persistence, ecosystems have coevolved mechanisms—such as aerial egg-laying in lungfish or flood-cued recruitment—for enduring it without requiring attribution to disaggregated modern climatic forcings.^[34]^[96]

Human-Induced Pressures and Debates

Livestock grazing in the Cooper Creek catchment has been associated with localized channel incision and gully formation in some floodplain reaches, as indicated by soil erosion surveys linking overgrazing to headcut migration and sediment loss, though the anastomosing channel system's inherent resilience and adaptive management practices mitigate widespread degradation.^[97]^[98] Industry-led assessments emphasize sustainable stocking rates, with data from the Channel Country floodplains showing that rotational grazing preserves soil stability and vegetation cover during dry periods, countering claims of systemic land degradation by highlighting empirical metrics like groundcover thresholds above 50% in monitored paddocks.^[98] Water extraction remains minimal, with diversions accounting for less than 1% of mean annual flow in the unregulated Cooper subregion, primarily supporting small-scale irrigation via seasonal allocations rather than permanent storages or weirs.^[99] Debates intensify over proposals for flood harvesting using pumps to capture episodic flows for agriculture, advocated by proponents as essential for economic viability in water-scarce inland Australia amid variable rainfall, while critics argue potential floodplain drying despite modeling showing negligible impacts on downstream inundation under conservative scenarios.^[33]^[100] Oil and gas extraction, including conventional and unconventional methods, involves over 800 wells predominantly on Cooper Creek floodplains, with wastewater management protocols and monitoring programs reporting no evidence of widespread groundwater or surface water contamination from produced water or fracking fluids.^[101]^[102] Seismic risks from hydraulic fracturing remain low, with incidence rates in the Lake Eyre Basin comparable to background levels and no recorded events linked to induced seismicity exceeding magnitude 2.0, though environmental groups highlight potential for fluid migration during floods despite regulatory containment requirements.^[102] Feral pig populations, introduced via European settlement, exert pressure on riparian zones through rooting and waterhole disturbance, with control efforts like targeted culling demonstrating efficacy in reducing sign by up to 62% at monitored Cooper Creek sites, thereby supporting wetland habitat recovery without broad ecological disruption from baiting.^[103] Proponents of expanded programs cite cost-benefit analyses showing sustained reductions in damage to native vegetation, while skeptics question long-term efficacy due to reinvasion from untreated areas, underscoring the need for integrated landscape-scale management over isolated interventions.^[104]

Policy Responses and Sustainability Measures

The Lake Eyre Basin Intergovernmental Agreement, signed on October 21, 2000, by Queensland and South Australia, establishes a framework for coordinated management of water resources across the basin, including the Cooper Creek catchment, emphasizing sustainable use while preserving ecological integrity through shared environmental objectives and flow protection measures.^[105] The agreement prohibits large-scale water diversions exceeding defined limits—such as 3% in Cooper Creek sub-catchments—and mandates joint monitoring to assess compliance and impacts, with subsequent expansions in 2010 incorporating the Northern Territory and Commonwealth oversight.^[106] Implementation reviews, including the 2015 second review, have highlighted adaptive adjustments based on hydrological data, though enforcement relies on state-level regulations amid variable flood regimes.^[107] Monitoring programs under South Australia's Arid Lands Natural Resources Management Board, such as the 2013 aquatic ecology assessment of Cooper Creek, track indicators like macroinvertebrate diversity, water quality, and riparian health, revealing sustained high ecological function due to minimal extraction— with turbidity and nutrient levels remaining within reference ranges for arid rivers.^[34] These assessments inform adaptive strategies, including floodplain management rules that restrict grazing during floods to prevent erosion, as outlined in Queensland's 2006 Cooper Creek Flood Rules of Thumb, which designate exclusion-like zones for occasionally flooded plains to protect channel integrity.^[26] Incentives for sustainable practices, such as the 2022 Sustainable Grazing in the Channel Country Floodplains project, promote rotational stocking and soil conservation on pastoral leases, yielding improved groundcover persistence post-flood compared to unregulated areas, per industry-led trials.^[108] Indigenous co-management pilots integrate traditional ecological knowledge, exemplified by a 2023 Santos-led ranger program with Lake Eyre Basin Traditional Owners, allocating up to A$12 million over five years for on-ground monitoring and weed control along Cooper Creek tributaries, enhancing detection of localized threats like feral herbivores.^[109] Such voluntary partnerships contrast with top-down restrictions; for instance, Queensland's 2023 ban on new oil and gas activities in basin floodplains and rivers has drawn criticism from the Queensland Resources Council for unnecessarily curtailing exploration without evidence of cumulative harm from existing operations, potentially undermining economic viability in remote areas.^[110]^[111] Private conservation covenants on stations, like those under Queensland's Nature Conservation Act, have demonstrated superior outcomes in maintaining biodiversity— with covenanted areas showing 20-30% higher native vegetation retention than adjacent unregulated leases—by aligning landowner incentives with monitoring data rather than prescriptive quotas.^[112] Empirical reviews indicate these market-driven approaches outperform regulatory bans in arid contexts, where over-regulation risks disinvestment without proportional ecological gains.^[113]

References

[1]
Cooper Creek, Australia - NASA Earth Observatory
Aug 1, 2020 · The Barcoo and Thomson rivers flow southwest and converge north of the town of Windorah to form Cooper Creek, a major river system that flows toward Lake Yamma ...Missing: geography facts
[2]
Paddling through the desert - Australian Geographic
Aug 25, 2014 · Then there's the fact the Cooper, the nation's second-longest waterway, never meets the ocean.
[3]
Cooper Creek (Cooper's Creek), Barcoo Shire, Queensland, Australia
Aug 22, 2025 · Cooper Creek (sometimes known as the Barcoo River, which is its source) has an overall length of some 1,300 km and flows south-west into ...
[4]
1.1.5.3 Surface water flow - Bioregional Assessments |
Jan 5, 2018 · Streamflow in Cooper Creek and its tributaries varies greatly between years from almost no flow to significant flooding, and between months with ...
[5]
Cooper Creek, Cullyamurra Waterhole 2012 Aquatic Ecosystem ...
Flow patterns in the unregulated Cooper Creek are highly variable and driven by monsoonal summer rainfall in the upper catchment area in Queensland. Most ...
[6]
Waterholes and their significance in the anastomosing channel ...
That waterholes have developed in abundance along Cooper Creek appears to be related to the presence of a more easily eroded sand sheet at depths of only 2–9 m ...
[7]
Burke and Wills | National Museum of Australia
The party started their return journey to Cooper Creek on 12 February 1861. On 17 April 1861, four days before reaching their destination, Gray died from ...
[8]
Burke and Wills Expedition (abridged version) - The Innamincka Hotel
Both Burke and Wills memorials can be found on the banks of the Cooper Creek. Burke's gravesite is a couple of kms north of the pub at Yidnaminkie (or Burke's) ...
[9]
Beautiful Australia Coopers Creek, Innamincka, South Australia
Jun 26, 2022 · The Innamincka area of Coopers Creek is best known for the ill-fated expedition of explorers Burke and Wills through Central Australia in 1860.<|separator|>
[10]
[PDF] Geomorphology of the Thomson River, Queensland - WaterConnect
This is the report of a study of the fluvial geomorphology of the Thomson River and Queensland reaches of Cooper Creek. This study was commissioned in 2014 by ...<|separator|>
[11]
[PDF] Channel Country bioregion, South Australia
May 19, 2006 · The Cooper Creek is Australia's largest braided stream and inland floodplain (Roberts, 1996). It stretches for some 1,523km, rising in the ...
[12]
Lake Eyre Basin - Department for Energy and Mining
Stratigraphy and geological history ... During the late Paleocene, tectonic subsidence in northeastern South Australia formed the large, shallow Lake Eyre Basin.
[13]
Foreword: Revisiting Lake Eyre Basin landscapes
With its ~1.2 million km2 catchment area, and currently draining one-fifth of the continent, it is the fourth largest internally draining basin in the world.Missing: size | Show results with:size
[14]
Structural Evolution of the Permian–Triassic Cooper Basin, Australia
Sep 24, 2019 · The sedimentary fill of the Cooper basin occurred in four major depositional cycles. The sediments were modified as a result of structural ...
[15]
[PDF] Geology of the Cooper GBA region | Bioregional Assessments
The depocentres include a thick succession of Permian to Triassic sediments (the Gidgealpa and Nappamerri groups) deposited in fluvio-glacial to fluvio- ...
[16]
Cooper Basin | Energy & Mining
The Cooper Basin is a Late Carboniferous to Triassic basin. It lies unconformably over early Paleozoic sediments of the Warburton Basin and is overlain ...
[17]
Aeolian–fluvial interaction and climate change: source-bordering ...
Aug 6, 2025 · This study provides an interpretation of interrelated Quaternary fluvial and aeolian activity related to climate change on Cooper Creek in ...
[18]
[PDF] October 2013 - Department for Environment and Water
Oct 1, 2013 · Cooper Creek is semi-confined by high terraces and other fluvial deposits, ... Fluvial processes operated alongside aeolian processes.
[19]
Late Quaternary aeolian and fluvial interactions on the Cooper ...
Aug 6, 2025 · Provenance of aeolian sands is an indispensable part of desert studies, providing better understanding on the responses of different surface ...
[20]
Extreme flow variability and the 'boom and bust' ecology of fish in ...
Apr 26, 2011 · This article shows how one of the world's most variable arid-zone river systems—Cooper Creek in Australia's Lake Eyre Basin—functions and how it ...
[21]
[PDF] Environmental character and history of the Lake Eyre Basin, one ...
Jan 1, 2014 · Transmission losses mean that the average annual runoff in Cooper Creek decreases from 96.7 m3 s-. 1 (3.05 km3) at Currareva (Fig. 7) to 40.0 ...
[22]
An event-based approach to the hydrology of arid zone rivers in the ...
Channel Country rivers drain very large basins, have extremely variable annual flows, and experience very high relative flood magnitudes.
[23]
[PDF] COMMUNITY INFORMATION PAPER - Desert Channels Queensland
Torrens. Creek has a coefficient of variation of around 40%. This variability increases downstream to Innamincka Station where it reaches 90% which is one of ...
[24]
Flow variability in dryland rivers: Boom, bust and the bits in between
Aug 6, 2025 · Australian dryland rivers are acknowledged as being among the most variable and unpredictable in the world in terms of their flow regimes.
[25]
Flooding in the Australian Interior - NASA Earth Observatory
In 2011, water is deep enough to color the channels deep blue. The same is true for water in the southern reaches of Cooper Creek. Menindee Lake and Lake Yamma ...
[26]
[PDF] Cooper Creek Catchment Flood Rules of Thumb - FutureBeef
For the Cooper to reach Lake Eyre, the flood needs to be 14 feet (4.3 m) for at least 3 months at the causeway near the Durham Downs house. Floods usually take ...Missing: dimensions | Show results with:dimensions
[27]
Australian non-perennial rivers: Global lessons and research ...
The Millennium Drought (late 1990s to 2009) was the worst drought recorded in the instrumental period for south-eastern Australia (Freund et al., 2017, Van ...
[28]
[PDF] Climate Change Impacts on the Water Resources of the Cooper ...
In this study we have assessed the likelihood of changes to mean annual flow by perturbing input data to the Cooper Creek Catchment Integrated Quality Quantity ...
[29]
Alluvial evidence for major climate and flow regime changes during ...
Oct 1, 2008 · Alluvial evidence for flow regime changes have been investigated at five locations along the middle and lower reaches of Cooper Creek, from the ...
[30]
Alluvial evidence for major climate and flow regime changes during ...
Aug 6, 2025 · Auger holes and bank exposures at five locations along the lower 500 km of Cooper Creek, a major contributor to Lake Eyre in the eastern part of ...Missing: instrumental | Show results with:instrumental
[31]
Hydrological persistence and the ecology of dryland rivers
Aug 6, 2025 · Inflows into Lake Eyre have been shown to be most often associated with the La Niña phase of the ENSO phenomenon (Allan 1985(Allan , 1989Isdale ...
[32]
Understanding the surface hydrology of the Lake Eyre Basin: Part 1 ...
In Section 6 rainfall–ENSO (El Niño-Southern Oscillation) relationships are developed and related to the teleconnections at the inter-decadal time scale. Some ...
[33]
Water flows on Cooper Creek in arid Australia determine 'boom' and ...
Cooper Creek is probably the longest and most important dryland river in Australia and one of the largest endorheic catchments in the world.Missing: length significance
[34]
[PDF] Aquatic ecology assessment and analysis of the Cooper Creek ...
relatively short life cycles and their 'boom and bust' population dynamics allow for wide distribution and rapid colonisation of novel environments. The ...
[35]
Flow duration curve for zero flows in the Cooper Creek, Australia,...
Australian dryland rivers are acknowledged as being among the most variable and unpredictable in the world in terms of their flow regimes. Although renowned for ...<|separator|>
[36]
Persistence of aquatic refugia between flow pulses in a dryland river ...
Aug 10, 2025 · ... Cooper Creek system of western Queensland. Fractional water loss by evaporation was estimated in 15 Cooper waterholes from the increase in ...<|separator|>
[37]
Multi-scale environmental factors explain fish losses and refuge ...
Aug 13, 2010 · Rivers draining to Lake Eyre, such as Cooper Creek, experience infrequent high-magnitude flow events (linked to ENSO phenomena) that can ...
[38]
Climate change effects on waterhole persistence in rivers of the ...
Modelling of waterhole persistence informs management of arid-zone, ephemeral river systems by identifying key waterholes and facilitating the conservation of ...
[39]
Conservation value of variable connectivity: Aquatic invertebrate ...
Aug 6, 2025 · Generally, more «heterogeneous» habitats, such as small oxbow lakes and tributary streams (as in the River Uldza), have higher species richness ...
[40]
The morphology and formation of floodplain-surface channels ...
Aug 6, 2025 · The Cooper Creek floodplain in Australia, shaped by flow energy, sediment transport, and flood frequency factors, comprises 44% braided channels ...
[41]
Identifying management‐driven dynamics in vegetation cover ...
Mar 22, 2022 · It and its associated ecosystems are dominated by boom–bust dynamics characterized by extremes of extensive flooding (up to 80 km wide in ...Missing: cycles | Show results with:cycles
[42]
[PDF] Impact assessment for the Cooper GBA region
Natural systems in the Cooper GBA region are driven by resource pulses and boom-and-bust ecological dynamics, shaping the high diversity of ecological ...<|separator|>
[43]
Eucalyptus coolabah - Lucid Apps
A small to medium-sized box tree widespread over inland eastern Australia, Central Australia and the southern fringe of the Kimberley region of Western ...
[44]
[PDF] NVIS Fact sheet MVG 17 – Other shrublands - DCCEEW
Lignum shrublands are dominated by Duma florulenta. (formerly Muehlenbeckia). Other shrubs present may include species of Chenopodium, Acacia and Atriplex. • ...
[45]
https://wetlandinfo.des.qld.gov.au/wetlands/facts-maps/wildlife/?AreaID=basin-cooper-creek&Kingdom=animals&Class=ray-finned%20fishes
[46]
Native animals of Cooper Creek drainage basin - WetlandInfo
Native animals of Cooper Creek drainage basin ; mammals, Dasyuridae, Sminthopsis murina ; mammals, Dasyuridae, Sminthopsis sp. ; mammals, Tachyglossidae ...Missing: fish | Show results with:fish
[47]
Coongie Lakes Ramsar Site Ecological Character Description
Oct 3, 2021 · This document describes the critical components, processes and services for Coongie Lakes Ramsar site and identifies limits of acceptable change ...
[48]
Innamincka Regional Reserve
Innamincka Regional Reserve is a park of contrasts. Covering more than 1.3 million hectares of land, ranging from the life-giving wetlands of the Cooper Creek ...
[49]
Regional reserves - Department for Environment and Water
The reserve protects arid wetlands of the Cooper Creek system. The dominant ... It conserves Strzelecki Desert environments, including the Strzelecki Creek ...
[50]
[PDF] Ecological impacts of invasive carp in Australian dryland rivers
Invasive carp are widely reported to harm ecosystems. In Australia, carp are a serious pest, and consequently investigations of biocontrol options are under ...
[51]
Population responses of common carp Cyprinus carpio to floods and ...
Jul 2, 2019 · The present study focused on understanding the C. carpio population responses to annual rainfall regime and long-term flood and drought events in the Ajó ...
[52]
[PDF] The Dieri People of the Lake Eyre Basin
Four decades of archaeological field work has placed Aboriginal occupation of the Lake Eyre Basin at around 40,000 years ago.
[53]
[PDF] Many Human Footprints – forty thousand years walking the Country
the main groups along the Diamantina River were the Wangkangurru Yarluyandi, with the Dieri who lived south of the Warburton River along Cooper Creek.
[54]
The archaeological significance of the Lower Cooper Creek - Zenodo
Jan 1, 1990 · A systematic survey of the Lower Cooper Creek has revealed an exceptionally rich record of prehistoric occupation, trade and subsistence ...
[55]
Fire-Stick Farming | Fire Ecology | Full Text - SpringerOpen
Dec 1, 2012 · Aboriginal man's ecological impact was mostly due to hunting, gathering of plants, and fire. By far the greatest effects were caused by the use ...Missing: Cooper Creek
[56]
[PDF] he use and abuse of Aboriginal ecological knowledge
In spite of being in a desert region, Cooper Creek possessed large water holes rich in fish life. (Glover 1990). A finely woven net of plant fibres was attached ...
[57]
(PDF) The use and abuse of Aboriginal ecological knowledge
food and water. Aboriginal groups living along Cooper. Creek and pushing into the surrounding. areas had a distinctive toolkit. The area. was part of a region ...
[58]
Environmental character and history of the Lake Eyre Basin, one ...
One of the world's largest internally drained (endorheic) basins, the 1.14 million km2 Lake Eyre (hydrological) Basin (LEB), covers nearly 15% of the ...
[59]
[PDF] Innamincka/Cooper Creek State Heritage Area
Cooper Creek was named by Captain Charles Sturt on 13 October 1845, when he crossed the watercourse at a point approximately 24 kilometres west of the current ...
[60]
NARRATIVE OF AN EXPEDITION INTO CENTRAL AUSTRALIA
Project Gutenberg's Expedition into Central Australia, by Charles Sturt This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions ...
[61]
Exploration - SA History Hub
Jun 24, 2015 · Warburton's 1866 explorations north of Lake Eyre (during which he discovered the major creek bearing his name) further elucidated this region, ...
[62]
[PDF] RETURN TO COOPER'S CREEK - UQ eSpace
Cooper's Creek has figured prominently in the history of the explorers who were first to penetrate the difficult central regions of this continent.Missing: origin drop
[63]
[PDF] 454 THE SCOTTISH AUSTRALIAN COMPANY AND PASTORAL ...
the later 1860's, the early years of that decade, from. 1860 to 1865, must be considered as probably the greatest period of pastoral expansion in Australia.
[64]
[PDF] two innamincka stations and three small ruins - Research @ Flinders
... pastoral lease on Cooper Creek in 1874 and herded cattle to the lease: “Mr Henry Colless arrived at Innamincka station, Cooper's Creek, with 1620 head of mixed.
[65]
1861 Burke and Wills poisoned? - Australian Food Timeline
It's likely that a combination of malnutrition, scurvy, beri-beri and exposure caused their deaths. Both Burke and Wills died in June 1861. King survived by ...
[66]
Mystery of the poisoned expedition - Nature
Apr 21, 1994 · But the cause of death was more pernicious than anyone at the time had imagined: beriberi due to thiaminase poisoning. You have full access to ...
[67]
Robert O'Hara Burke and William Wills - The Australian Museum
The lavishly equipped expedition – the most expensive ever mounted in Australia's history – included two dozen camels, two years of rations and six tonnes of ...
[68]
https://australianculture.org/perished-in-desert-1913/
[69]
Lake Eyre Basin Catchment Story - WetlandInfo
Sep 24, 2020 · The Thomson and Barcoo River converge to form a series of braided channels. Here Cooper Creek consists of large areas of alluvium and sand, ...Missing: dimensions | Show results with:dimensions
[70]
Channel country
Aug 28, 2008 · Cooper Creek has a catchment of 300 thousand square kilometres, beginning south of the Tropic of Capricorn, in central Queensland and ending at ...<|separator|>
[71]
Land management for graziers | Business Queensland
Aug 5, 2025 · Good grazing and pasture management are vital. Use rotational grazing, manage stocking rates, and maintain native grasses to reduce erosion. ...
[72]
Sustainable Grazing in Channel Country Floodplains (Phase 2) - MLA
Flood type and postflood pasture growth conditions are therefore critical in determining the numbers of cattle that can be stocked initially, and how many can ...
[73]
[PDF] Northern Gulf beef production systems - MLA
This report has been produced as part of the project 'Delivering integrated production and economic knowledge and skills to improve drought management outcomes ...
[74]
[PDF] Cattle numbers - MLA
QLD. 527,139. In 2015-16 the ABS survey structure changed which removed small farm businesses with an estimated value. 19 South West Queensland QLD. 20 ...
[75]
Australian cattle herd hits 30mn head in FY2023-24: ABS
Jun 11, 2025 · Beef cattle represents about 93pc of the total herd. Queensland's beef numbers grew by 3pc on the year to 13.6mn head as of 30 June 2024 ...
[76]
stocking rates, pasture resting, prescribed fire, paddock size and ...
Aug 7, 2025 · Principles and guidelines for managing cattle grazing in the grazing lands of northern Australia: stocking rates, pasture resting, prescribed ...Missing: Creek | Show results with:Creek
[77]
Celebrating 50 years of natural gas from Moomba - Santos
Nov 10, 2019 · ... Moomba processing plant in South Australia's remote Cooper Basin. It was on 10 November 1969 that the very first molecules of gas arrived in ...
[78]
Historical highlights | Energy & Mining
First petroleum production licences issued to Delhi–Santos. 750 km Moomba–Adelaide pipeline completed and first Cooper Basin gas produced for sale and piped to ...
[79]
Cooper Basin – Discovery Energy Corp. Oil and gas explorer Australia
Since the first gas discovery in 1963, this area has sourced over 4 billion barrels of oil and 5 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas. It has in excess of ...
[80]
[PDF] Underground Water Impact Report for Santos' Cooper Basin Oil and ...
10.1 Groundwater Monitoring and Management Measures ... The hydrostratigraphic units of the Cooper Geological Basin is not used for groundwater supply.
[81]
[PDF] 4 Gas markets in - eastern Australia - Australian Energy Regulator
Gas is also sourced from the Cooper Basin in South Australia and was supplemented by supply from the Northern Territory from 2019 to 2024. Gas from the ...
[82]
[PDF] The oil and gas industry in South Australia
The oil and gas industry in SA employs 833 people, is centered in the Cooper Basin, dominated by Santos, and has significant influence despite low employment ...<|separator|>
[83]
[PDF] Economic Contribution of the Gas Industry
Dec 18, 2024 · Reduce GDP by $48 billion per annum. • Result in the loss of 133,000 FTE jobs. A shock of this type discourages investment, which may impact ...
[84]
Environmental research within the Cooper Basin | Energy & Mining
The final results demonstrate that there is an overall surplus of water in the industry. The report provides insight into demands and sets a foundation for ...Missing: aquifer | Show results with:aquifer
[85]
[PDF] Environmental Impact Report - Beach Energy
Oct 26, 2022 · Groundwater Impacts from Water Use ... In 2021 Beach developed a groundwater monitoring and management strategy for the Eromanga Basin to set ...
[86]
[PDF] South Australian Cooper Basin Environmental Impact Report - NET
Jul 29, 2021 · Due to the depth of the artesian aquifers at the centre of the basin, the majority of pastoral water use from these aquifers in South ...
[87]
What is there to do near Innamincka? You might just be surprised!
Camping on Cooper Creek, Some of the most beautiful camping spots. Coongie Lakes, One of the stunning natural attractions in SA. Cullyamurra Waterhole.
[88]
[PDF] Innamincka Regional Reserve
Innamincka Regional Reserve Management Plan 8. Page 10. The Cooper Creek ... A network of vehicle tracks provides access to all major visitor sites (Figure 1).
[89]
Corner Channel Country 12 Day Tours - Spirit Safaris
Jun 16, 2020 · Visit the famous Dig Tree & historic reserve, plus Burke's Grave on the banks of Cooper Creek. this remote and fascinating area around the ...
[90]
https://www.parks.sa.gov.au/know-before-you-go/desert-parks-bulletin-2
[91]
The morphology and formation of floodplain-surface channels ...
Floodplain-surface channels are prominent features of the floodplain of Cooper Creek, a low-energy, anastomosing river in semi-arid southwest Queensland.Missing: dimensions | Show results with:dimensions
[92]
[PDF] Sediment transport of fine-grained alluvium from Cooper Creek ...
This study provides a greater understanding of the pedogenic processes leading to the formation of aggregated mud pellets in an alluvial environment and helps ...
[93]
[PDF] Managing the high ecological Value aquatic ecosysteMs
The Cooper Creek is a significant feature of the Lake Eyre Basin in the centre of the Australian continent. (Fig.1). In the South Australian section of the ...
[94]
Natural flows drive the 'boom and bust' ecology of fish in Cooper ...
The region goes through natural cycles of boom and bust, and the flooding of the basin rivers is accompanied by spectacular responses from wildlife and ...
[95]
Temporal changes in fish abundance in response to hydrological ...
Feb 20, 2009 · Cooper Creek is largely unregulated and therefore provides an ideal system for exploring the influence of natural flow variability (sensuPoff et ...
[96]
2.3.3.1 Landscape classification - Bioregional Assessments |
Oct 31, 2018 · Boom-bust population dynamics are also a strong feature of wetland systems in the Cooper PAE (Arthington et al., 2010; Arthington and Balcombe, ...<|separator|>
[97]
(PDF) Grazing impacts on gully dynamics indicate approaches for ...
Some of these headcuts were monitored as compound headcuts in Weany and Wheel gullies. GRAZING IMPACTS ON GULLY EROSION IN NORTHEAST AUSTRALIA.
[98]
[PDF] final report | MLA
Major recorded flood heights at gauging stations in the Cooper Creek system. Station. Mar 1971 Jan 1974 Apr 1990 Feb 1991 Feb 1997 Feb/Mar 2000. Muttaburra.
[99]
[PDF] Current water accounts and water quality for the Cooper subregion
Sep 2, 2015 · The surface water resources in the Cooper subregion have not yet been affected by diversion or dams or weirs (Costelloe, 2013). Furthermore, ...<|separator|>
[100]
Cooper Creek flood modelling scenarios - GISERA
The scenarios simulate floods with and without structures, under dry, medium, and wet climate scenarios, using historical and future climate data.Missing: harvesting | Show results with:harvesting
[101]
Oil and gas exploration and development in the Lake Eyre Basin ...
There were 831 oil and gas wells across the Lake Eyre Basin, predominantly (98.6%) on Cooper Creek floodplains, with 296 wells in the Coongie Lakes Ramsar ...
[102]
[PDF] Lake Eyre Basin Synthesis Report
Jan 27, 2022 · In particular, the Cooper geological basin underlies a large proportion of the Cooper Creek surface water catchment. Figure 1 shows the ...
[103]
Pig control helps support Coongie habitat - DCCEEW
Feb 2, 2022 · The level of impact on riparian areas has been assessed at 47 sites in Cooper Creek, with 62 percent showing pig sign (mostly scat), but only ...Missing: efficacy | Show results with:efficacy
[104]
[DOC] Threat abatement plan for predation, habitat degradation ... - DCCEEW
More consistent and effective feral pig management occurs across Australia at all levels of government, and in regional groups. Inclusion of actions to mitigate ...<|control11|><|separator|>
[105]
[PDF] Lake Eyre Basin Intergovernmental Agreement - DCCEEW
This Agreement applies to that area of the Lake Eyre Basin (the Agreement. Area) encompassing portions of Queensland and South Australia, as depicted in.
[106]
Lake Eyre Basin Intergovernmental Agreement
The agreement area originally applied to the Cooper Creek system (including the Thomson and Barcoo Rivers) and the Georgina-Diamantina catchment systems within ...
[107]
[PDF] The Second Review of the Lake Eyre Basin Intergovernmental ...
The coverage of the 2000 Lake Eyre Basin Intergovernmental Agreement includes: the Cooper Creek system. (including the Thomson and Barcoo Rivers), the ...
[108]
Sustainable Grazing in the Channel Country Floodplains. A ...
Jul 5, 2022 · The project "Sustainable Grazing in the Channel Country Floodplains" was initiated by the cattle industry to document the current knowledge of ...Missing: incentives Basin
[109]
Santos partners with Lake Eyre Basin Traditional Owners to care for ...
Dec 1, 2023 · Santos and its Cooper Basin joint venture partners will invest up to A$12 million over five years in partnership with Traditional Owners on a ranger program.
[110]
Queensland to ban new oil and gas drilling in Lake Eyre basin rivers ...
Dec 21, 2023 · The Queensland government will ban new oil and gas developments in the Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre basin's rivers and floodplains.
[111]
Queensland's Lake Eyre Basin Decision Jeopardizes Investment ...
Dec 22, 2023 · QRC Chief Executive Ian Macfarlane said the proposed new regulations were unnecessary and threaten Queensland's future capacity to ensure ...
[112]
Nature Conservation (Protected Areas Management) Regulation 2017
(1)A provision of this regulation applies to private land in a coordinated conservation area only if, and to the extent that, the provision declares it applies ...
[113]
Challenges, solutions and research priorities for sustainable ...
Nov 12, 2020 · The intergovernmental agreement protecting the free-flowing rivers of the Lake Eyre Basin and providing a framework for evidence-based ...